Course Highlights

Business Analysts are increasingly required to extend themselves beyond their traditional role of developing and maintaining IT systems. They need the capability to understand the business strategy, use proven techniques to analyse the business area, and identify changes to business processes needed to meet internal and external challenges.

This 3-day course develops the skills needed to work with senior business and IT staff to analyse and model business activities. Delegates will learn how to investigate business problems, and how to identify and recommend appropriate creative solutions.

Overview

Delegates will learn how to:

What's Included

1. RATIONALE FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS

• Learning outcomes
• The rationale for business analysis
• A holistic view
• The business change lifecycle
• Scope of the business analyst role
• Other roles within business change
• Three areas of competency
• Module 1 - Knowledge check

2. STRATEGIC CONTEXT FOR BUSINESS ANALYSIS

• Learning outcomes
• Purpose of an organisation’s vision
• External environmental analysis
• Internal environmental analysis
• Swot analysis
• Balanced business scorecard
• CSFs, KPIs & performance targets
• Case study - Environmental analysis
• Module 2 - Knowledge check

3 PROJECT DISCIPLINE FOR BUSINESS ANALYSTS

• Learning outcomes
• Project initiation document
• Soft systems methodology for problem solving
• Soft Systems Methodology video tutorial
• Business analysis process model
• Module 3 - Knowledge check

4. ANALYSING THE CURRENT STATE

• Learning outcomes
• Background research
• Investigation techniques
• Documenting the business situation
• Case study - Documenting the current situation
• Module 4 - Knowledge check

5. ANALYSING AND MANAGING STAKEHOLDERS

• Learning outcomes
• Activities required to engage stakeholders
• Stakeholder wheel
• Stakeholder power and interest
• Stakeholder attitudes
• Stakeholder management strategy
• Case study - Stakeholder identification
• Business perspectives
• Case study - Business perspectives
• Module 5 - Knowledge check

6. ESTABLISHING THE TARGET STATE

• Learning outcomes
• Rationale for building conceptual models of a business situation
• How to construct a conceptual business activity model (BAM)
• Activities in a BAM
• Three types of business event
• Rationale for the consensus business activity model
• Categories of business rule
• The use of a target operating model
• Case study - BAMs
• Module 6 - Knowledge check

7. DESIGNING AND DEFINING THE SOLUTION

• Learning outcomes
• Identify the stages of design thinking
• Divergent and convergent thinking
• The process for gap analysis
• Options analysis
• Module 7 - Knowledge check

8. BUILDING THE BUSINESS CASE

• Learning outcomes
• Rationale for developing a business case
• Contents of a business case
• Case study - Business case
• Rationale for developing a financial case
• Business case and the business change lifecycle
• Module 8 - Knowledge check

Course Includes

At the end of the course delegates may sit an examination to attain the BCS Practitioner Certificate in Business Analysis Practice.

This course is run in association with Amatis Training.

Requirements

This course is suitable for delegates wishing to acquire the skill set required for analysing and addressing business problems and wishing to attain the BCS Practitioner Certificate in Business Analysis Practice would benefit from attending this course.